Graduate receiver William Lankford\u2019s nickname is fitting.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou tell him, Unc,\u201d members of the Elon football team said as graduate receiver William Lankford prepared for an interview.<\/p>\n
On Oct. 9, Lankford will reach 20 years around football. And as he enters his fifth and final season at Elon, he has found himself taking on a role that extends beyond what he does between the lines.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s the guy younger players can lean on.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn Unc that takes care of his nephews,\u201d Lankford said when asked what type of leader he is.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lankford was named a captain for the second consecutive season, but he said he\u2019s grown into the role. He\u2019s become more vocal, using his experience to make sure teammates are in the right place and aren\u2019t left in a pinch.<\/p>\n
The message he gives his \u2018nephews\u2019 is simple: \u201cTough times don\u2019t last. Tough people do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lankford knows that lesson firsthand.<\/p>\n
He began his Elon career as a quarterback, eventually making his first college start. It didn\u2019t go the way he hoped.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t necessarily perform to a winning standard,\u201d Lankford admitted. \u201cAnd I actually performed pretty poorly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The experience stuck with him. But instead of allowing the difficult moments to define him, Lankford leaned on his teammates \u2014 the same teammates who helped keep him going when he was struggling.<\/p>\n
He said that this experience has shaped how he approaches leadership today. Football, he tells younger players, isn\u2019t something they have to navigate alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re never going to be able to play this sport by yourself,\u201d Lankford said. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of been one thing I\u2019ve tried to nail into younger guys ever since I\u2019ve been in this role.\u201d<\/p>\n
His own career has given him plenty of perspectives to share.<\/p>\n
After starting as a quarterback, Lankford transitioned to receiver and special teams, allowing him to understand the game from multiple positions. He said his quarterback background helps him recognize coverages as a receiver, while his work on special teams has taught him to appreciate the players whose contributions may not show up in the box score.<\/p>\n
Now, as one of Elon\u2019s oldest players, his focus has shifted again.<\/p>\n
When asked what would make this season successful, Lankford didn\u2019t start with statistics or personal accomplishments. He talked about his teammates.<\/p>\n
He wants to see younger players succeed. He wants to see sixth-year receiver and close personal friend Jamarien Dalton return from a year of injury and thrive. He wants to see sophomore quarterback Brady Stober continue to grow as a leader \u2014 even though Lankford competed with him at quarterback earlier this summer. And he wants to watch the teammates he\u2019s spent years alongside reach their own goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just kind of want to see the younger guys on our team win,\u201d Lankford said.<\/p>\n
For Lankford, that\u2019s what success looks like now.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing their successes and everything that they got going on, whether they stay here or don\u2019t, that I think that\u2019ll be success for me,\u201d Lankford said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Head coach Tony Trisciani said Lankford has been one of the most vocal players to step up as the team looks to increase its focus on accountability.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of the guys who has really stepped up,\u201d Trisciani said. \u201cIt can\u2019t just be coaches. It has to be players too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That player-led accountability has become a major emphasis for Elon entering the 2026 season, and Lankford is one of the veterans expected to establish that standard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trisciani said Lankford\u2019s approach embodies the philosophy Elon\u2019s players have with one another.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a matter of like deposits and withdrawals with each other,\u201d Trisciani said, praising the captains\u2019 leadership. \u201cIf I\u2019m going to hold somebody accountable, I need to be making deposits with them, right? Making sure they know that I know, and encouraging them when they do right. So when they do wrong, and I need to make a withdrawal, there have been enough deposits there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After 20 years around football, Lankford\u2019s final season isn\u2019t simply about what he can accomplish. It\u2019s about what he can leave behind.<\/p>\n
And if the Phoenix accomplish their goals, Lankford said he might measure his final season not by what his name says on the stat sheet, but by the names of the players he helped along the way.<\/p>\n
And then, it\u2019s time to move on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got to start working,\u201d Lankford joked while walking to the locker room. \u201cI\u2019ve got to become a working man.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Graduate receiver William Lankford\u2019s nickname is fitting. \u201cYou tell him, Unc,\u201d members of the Elon football team said…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":896737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-896736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=896736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/896737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}